Whistleblower’s! Know Your Rights!

Sustainable Cowboys or Welfare Ranchers of the American West?

Source:  THE DAILY PITCHFORK

Report analyzes taxpayer bailout of U.S. public lands ranching [Part II of a series on ranchers]

by Vickery Eckhoff

 Public lands livestock operators each cost taxpayers nearly a quarter of a million dollars in subsidies over the last decade. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, John Locher)

Five hundred million dollars[1]. That’s what 21,000[2] ranchers who graze their livestock on America’s iconic western rangelands are estimated to have cost US taxpayers in 2014 — and every year for the past decade. This averages out to an annual taxpayer subsidy of $23,809 per rancher — approximately a quarter of a million dollars each since 2005. So why does this small subset, representing just 2.7% of US livestock producers, protest the “welfare rancher” label?

 The public lands grazing program is welfare.

That $23,809 — and it’s a lowball figure — is a form of public assistance similar to other welfare programs. The only difference is, it doesn’t arrive as a check in the mail. It instead represents a loss covered by taxpayers: the very large difference between what public lands ranchers pay in fees to the US government and what public lands grazing costs taxpayers every year. But it’s still a subsidy, as a newly updated economic analysis, Costs and Consequences: The Real Price of Livestock Grazing on America’s Public Lands, makes clear. And the recipients aren’t low income; a large number are millionaires and some are billionaires and multi-billion dollar corporations. Cattle barons, if you will.

Public lands ranching costs western ecosystems, wildlife and taxpayers.

“Several federal agencies permit livestock grazing on public lands in the United States, the largest being the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Department of Agriculture’s United States Forest Service (USFS).

The vast majority of livestock grazing on BLM and USFS rangelands occurs in the 11 western states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Rangelands are non-irrigated and generally have vegetation that consists mostly of grasses, herbs and/or shrubs. They are different from pastureland, which may periodically be planted, fertilized, mowed or irrigated.”

READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE HERE.

Our biggest waste of money is Congress

Marti Oakley (c) copyright 2013 All Rights Reserved

Follow @MartiOakley

******************************************************************************************

Our biggest waste of money is Congress

Several of you have written me and said things to the effect that if I am so damn smart why don’t I tell you all how I would fix the national debt and reduce spending in the District of Criminals.  So, as my New Year’s gift to all of you, here is my idea of how to rid ourselves of massive amounts of national debt and reduce the mindless, pork laden spending done at our expense. It is not a full and complete list as this would require so much space and days of reading, that I am only highlighting three or four of the most wasteful, unconstitutional, pointless agency’s or programs.

And, no I do not think I am so smart.  I do however, think that I am highly pissed off that we allow this crap to continue.

How the Fed gets in your state

The one thing that must be understood is that the only way federal corporations who try to hide their true identity by masquerading as “Public service” or some other clever word exchange, gain access to your state is only by getting approval from your governor and directed to the corresponding agency within the state that will contract with them.  These are not laws as per the Constitution.  This is contract law and the ensuing contracting with the federal corporation attempting to gain entry into your state is a corporate business plan which has little to nothing to do with law or property rights.  These are contracts that can be revoked, and, these are business plans that should be rejected across the board.

The first order of business:

1.  I would close down and completely disassemble Homeland Security.  This monolithic monstrosity has nothing to do with national security, keeping you safe or any of the other idiotic jingoistic crap that issues from them on a daily basis.  The Economist published a wonderfully explicit graph  in September of 2011 showing the cash sink hole that is Homeland Security. 

Stimulus Part Deux? It’s Only Electrons After All

House approves $447 billion omnibus spending measure

“The House voted Thursday to approve half a dozen spending bills contained in one large package, as the chamber races to complete its work before adjourning for the year.”

Should we be “grateful” that only $3.9 billion is earmarks?
House OKs $3.9 billion in earmarks in spending bill

Why not? Let one Starve on the Sanctuary:

“Earmark sponsors also defended the projects as important to the nation’s economic recovery. For example, Rep. Sam Farr (D-Carmel), who secured $800,000 for the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail, said the project would help generate tourism dollars.”

Edumicate the masses on the aquatic livestock….that they cannot catch legally :
“Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a leading critic of pork-barrel spending, singled out for criticism $200,000 provided for the Aquatic Adventures Science Education Foundation in San Diego. ”

and tantalize them with tattered jean design:
“$250,000 for textile research at UC Davis.”

Yes Legislative Branch – there is a Santa Claus – and he resides within and close to the American Taxpayers wallet uhm – heart.

sniff. sniff.

The War on Terror? …….BRASSCHECK TV/video

Whatever happened to the war on terror?

We’re in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting god only knows who for god only knows what reason.

What about the home front?

Threat levels remain elevated, but from what exactly?

No one knows.

But the government manages to create new ways to waste money on every day.

Details on the latest Homeland “security” insanity:

 

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/482.html